No. 045 of 207
Titled as a 1963 Cord, this is one of only five full-size, factory-built replicas of the 1936 Cord 810 Phaeton. It provides the classic look of the 1936 Cord Phaeton with many of the features of modern automobiles. It was restored in 2005 by Schaeffer & Long of Magnolia, New Jersey, who have been restoring antique and classic cars for more than 40 years in the same location.
The Cord 810 was a luxury automobile produced by the Cord Automobile division of the Auburn Automobile Company in 1936. The styling of the Cord 810 was the work of designer Gordon M. Buehrig and his team of stylists, which included young Vince Gardner and Alex Tremulis.
It was the first American-designed and built front wheel drive car with independent front suspension. It was preceded by Cord's own 1929 Cord L-29, and the French 1934 Citroën Traction Avant front wheel drive cars, but the Cord 810 (along with the Cord 812 in 1937) was commercially less successful than these.
The Cord 810 was also the first production car to feature hidden, pop-up headlights. Additionally, the radical new styling of its nose completely replaced the traditional radiator grille, in favor of horizontal louvers, that curved all around the sides of the nose, earning the car's styling the nickname of coffin nose.
1936 came in four models: the entry-level sedan at US$1995, the Beverly sedan ($2095), Sportsman ($2145), and Phaeton ($2195).
The car caused a sensation at its debut at the New York Auto Show in November 1935. The crowds were so dense attendees stood on the bumpers of nearby cars to get a look. Cord had rushed to build the 100 cars needed to qualify for the show, but the transmission was not ready. Even so, Cord took many orders there, promising Christmas delivery. Expected production of 1,000 cars per month failed however to materialize, as the semi-automatic transmission proved more troublesome than expected. The first production cars were not ready to deliver until February, and did not reach New York City until April 1936. In all, Cord managed to sell only 1,174 of the new 810 in its first model year, as the result of mechanical troubles.
General Motors V-8 engine
Automatic transmission
Power steering
Banjo-style steering wheel
125-inch wheelbase
Less than 17,000 original miles
Pre-War Classics / 1916–1941
